SATURDAY PUZZLE — A week ago, we got a taste of hyperdifficulty. This puzzle, Nam Jin Yoon’s second construction for us and his Saturday debut, is like a soft cozy sweater compared with Sam Ezersky’s, um, horsehair shirt (or whatever itchy garment you can imagine). There are loads of great culture references, mingling with gently funny puns and hardly any noticeable glue. There are even a couple of prompts for what to read and watch, assuming you’re still holidaying.
This weekend, by the way, New York Times crosswords are streaming on Twitch. Don’t ask me exactly what that means, but I think that you can collaboratively solve and chat there (don’t forget about us, though!).
Tricky Clues
1A: I always look at the first clue in a grid, although I’m not married to solving any puzzle in order. This is a beguiling misdirect and pun: “reschedule” fits and is perfectly apropos, but it’s Saturday, so it’s going to be something loopy like TIME TRAVEL. Only to the future, in this case.
17A: The reference here evokes instant nostalgia for the “Working Girl” genre, dated as it may be — I remember those POWER SUITS as being as bulky and square as football uniforms. Every so often, though, fashion gets retro and padded shoulders make a little comeback.
21A: Mr. Yoon is a fan, as am I, so kudos to him for debuting Donna TARTT in the Times grid. (How can this be? Was the entry always “Donna?” I feel as if I’ve seen her name before.) “The Secret History” is from 1992, another shocking development; “The Goldfinch,” a more recent big book by her, became a widely panned movie last year with Ansel Elgort, who was born in 1994, but I digress.
38A: When that tiny violin is playing for you, don’t fight the wallow — everyone has the right to throw a PITY PARTY. Just don’t make anyone else come. This is not a debut — it’s in our canon now. AUTOTUNES, one line up, was interesting enough to me that I spent about an hour watching auto-tuned pets. I highly encourage trying this with any pets you’ve got hanging around because mine, at least, were enchanted.
8D: This is such a good burn when you’re looking for those evaluating statements that can mean something really snarky (“his work is truly in a class of its own,” for instance). Someone who’s excellent at self-reflection might learn from their mistakes, but they might also just be VAIN.
25D: The two childhood-tale references strike me as sweet. This clue is possibly more straightforward, although my brain probably used some crossing letters to parse “beneficiary of a kiss” because I got FROG PRINCE so easily. That one is the Brothers Grimm; the TORTOISE, which is Aesop, is the “beneficiary” of a nap taken by the arrogant hare.
44D: Everyone thinks “YouTube,” right? Think London Tube, where a boob is a plonker, a pillock, a muppet or a PRAT.
Constructor Notes
If anyone’s looking for a good quarantine read (or reread), I’m a fan of 21A’s “The Secret History,” which is still the GOAT campus novel.
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"much" - Google News
November 28, 2020 at 10:00AM
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Says Too Much - The New York Times
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